Coinbase addresses allegations that it has sold customer “geo-tracking” data to the US government. Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has refused to sell “specific customer data” following reports that it provided “historical geo-tracking data” to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase came under fire last week after reports accused Nasdaq of selling customer data to the US government. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Tracer, the US-based analytics arm of the watchdog, has signed an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to conduct technical investigations.
However, Coinbase clarified on Twitter Thursday: “We want to make this incredibly clear: Coinbase does not sell its own customer data.”Our Coinbase Tracer tools are designed to support enforcement and assist in the investigation of financial crimes such as money laundering and terrorist financing. Coinbase Tracer obtains information from open sources, and Coinbase does not use user data. Forever,” the exchange continued on Twitter. However, many on Twitter are not convinced that Coinbase sold customer data to the US government and that the company specifically uses the term “privacy” to describe the data it does not sell. Last August, Coinbase sold a license to ICE’s analytics software for $29,000, and the following month bought the software for $1.36 million. Full documents about the deal were released this week in a Freedom of Information Act request by Tech Discovery. The story was first reported by The Intercept on Wednesday. A disclaimer on Coinbase’s website repeats what the company wrote on Friday: “Coinbase Tracer obtains data from open sources and does not use data from Coinbase users.”
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